Meet the bakers - Part 11

Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? The Kuki Jar, for some reason, reminded me of this childhood game-song, and I'd been singing this ever since I wrote to Kuki Ravindran. :-)

Today's issue of Meet the bakers features Kuki Ravindran whose Baklava muffins, bowled me over.


D: How / When did you start baking? What got you into this and to start professionally?
KR: I baked my first cake at 7 so that's about XX years of baking (what a sneaky way of asking me my age, you woman !) ;)) (She mentioned the number of years, but that also gives out her age and I'm not publishing a lady's age :P ). It's always been a passion and even through my career with British Airways, I used to bake for pleasure and sometimes even sold my cakes to people who placed orders. I've always know I would work with food, so last year when a friend of mine gave me a lecture about being lazy and wasting time, I decided to take the plunge....and there was born The Kuki-Jar !  :)

D: As a market, where do home bakers stand, as compared to pros like French Loaf and stuff like that?
KR: Home Bakers are FINALLY coming into their own, about time ! Pages like the Home Baker's Guild and the Baker Showcase are evidence of the fact that home-baking is close to most people's hearts - whether you are a baker or a consumer ! I feel that the talent and dedication to quality that Home Baker's have been displaying is staggering and I would personally order from them over a commercial bakery any day.

D: Where do you source your ingredients and can you think of 1 ingredient that we don't get here in India?
 KR: I source my ingredients from all over. Most of it is local so that I can run a sustainable business, but a few ingredients that are key to some dishes I make, I source from abroad. Double-Cream is one ingredient I have been pulling my hair out over , so now I've decided to adapt my recipes to single-cream. Even considered a written petition to Amul to request double-cream, and sent them an online query, but no joy till date.  Another is pecan-nuts for my Mocha Pecan Pie which is an un-reliable and expensive ingredient here. I get those from the US.

D: What's your theme for the bake fest?
KR: I don't really have a conscious theme for the Baker Showcase. I will probably be making the dishes I love the best and which are my most requested...... and maybe some new favourites too. Ok so here's the theme - My Favourite Things! Come to the Showcase to find out what they are.

Does this girl look like she's scared of spiders? Music, food and her 10 year old puppy dog Nooky are her passions. If not baking, we'd have still seen Kuki crooning some lovely numbers.


Signs off Kuki - Met some of the bakers at a photo-shoot the other day and it was such a lot of fun ! Can't wait for the Showcase to meet more of this Sisterhood of home-bakers....thanks to Bala and Nandita for the idea and execution of the HBG and Baker Showcase. A tip of the hat to them ! 

I'm bringing my appetite and you please bring those delicious  baklava muffins ;-) Cheers and see ya at the fest !